D.A. candidate Hickey arrested again in Lodi

Sunday

May 25, 2014 at 12:01 AM

LODI - San Joaquin County District Attorney candidate Gary Hickey was arrested again Friday night, the latest in a series of legal troubles that have overshadowed his candidacy in the run-up to the June 3 primary election.

Jason Anderson

LODI - San Joaquin County District Attorney candidate Gary Hickey was arrested again Friday night, the latest in a series of legal troubles that have overshadowed his candidacy in the run-up to the June 3 primary election.

Sgt. Eric Versteeg of the Lodi Police Department said officers were dispatched to Hickey's residence in the 1600 block of Fawnhaven Way shortly before 7 p.m. after receiving several reports that Hickey was driving under the influence of alcohol. Officers were unable to locate Hickey at first, but they later made contact with him when he came out of his residence holding an alcoholic beverage, Versteeg said.

"Our officers noticed symptoms of intoxication and saw that he was carrying what they believed to be a container of alcohol," said Lt. Sierra Brucia, a spokesman for the Police Department. "As a result of their interaction with him, they ended up arresting him for public intoxication."

Hickey was booked into the Lodi Jail. He has since been released, Versteeg said.

Hickey, 65, a defense attorney who is running for district attorney, was removed from the San Joaquin County Bar Association's county-funded defense counsel program May 6 following a string of run-ins with the law.

He has been investigated by police four times in less than a year.

Hickey is charged with hit-and-run resulting in property damage after his vehicle reportedly struck a telephone pole and left the scene in August 2013, a case that is being prosecuted by the state Attorney General's Office to avoid a conflict of interest.

Also, Lodi police have forwarded to prosecutors a DUI report and an assault report against Hickey. In April, Hickey was accused of assault after allegedly punching a 61-year-old man, striking him with an unknown object and causing the man to break his hip, authorities said. That altercation occurred less than three weeks after Hickey was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.

Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/crimeblog and on Twitter @stockton911.

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